Looking for first PGA Tour wins, Davis and Molder take lead into final round at Colonial

Davis, Molder take lead into Colonial final round

FORT WORTH, Texas — Brian Davis and Bryce Molder are hoping for a little plaid to signify finally winning on the PGA Tour.

Davis had his second consecutive bogey-free 65 on Saturday while Molder, the second-round leader, shot 67 to put them both at 16-under 194 going into the final round at the Colonial, where the champion gets a plaid jacket along with a check of more than $1 million.

The closest Davis has come to winning was last month at Hilton Head, when he got into a playoff with Jim Furyk and then called a two-stroke penalty on himself on the extra hole. The 35-year-old Englishman had missed the cut his last three tournaments.

Molder has four top-10s this season, but the four-time All-American from Georgia Tech has only one professional victory since leaving college in 2001 — on the Nationwide Tour in 2006.

It was another hot but ideal scoring day at Hogan’s Alley, where there again were only light breezes. The forecast Sunday calls for nearly identical conditions.

Kenny Perry’s tournament-record mark of 19 under, which he set when winning in 2003 and 2005, could be in serious jeopardy. The next-best score for a Colonial was 17 under by three players last year, when Steve Stricker won a two-hole playoff.

There are 17 players at 11 under or better going into the final round.

Zach Johnson (64) was a stroke behind the leaders. Ben Crane (64) joined first-round co-leaders Jeff Overton (66) and Jason Bohn (68) in a tie for fourth at 14 under.

Molder shot a career-best 62 Friday to take the halfway lead, then set another personal mark Saturday with nine consecutive one-putts. Except he wasn’t able to parlay that streak into the outright lead again. He made putts ranging from 4 to 34 feet from holes Nos. 2-11, a stretch that included five birdies and a double bogey.

Then on the closing 441-yard 18th hole, Molder slid a 10-foot birdie try just past the cup.

Davis, who hasn’t had a bogey since the ninth hole in the opening round Thursday, needed a couple of save shots Saturday.

At the par-5 11th, Davis made a 16-foot par putt after hitting from a fairway bunker to the rough and then over the green. He overcame a bad chip at the 430-yard 15th hole with a 21-foot par-saver. When he hit his second shot of the day from a fairway bunker and then went over the green at the only other par 5, he pitched a shot to 2 feet on No. 1.

Johnson had birdies on both backside par 3s, making a 22-footer at No. 13, and an 8-footer at No. 16 while wrapping up his bogey-free round. He made a 4-foot birdie putt at No. 18 to get to 15 under when Molder still had four holes to play.

Crane got to 14 under when he made an eagle from 143 yards at the par-4 17th hole. He had a hole-in-one Friday and another eagle Thursday.

Phil Mickelson missed the cut and a chance at being the No. 1 player in the world, so he wasn’t around for the Colonial’s second “Pink Out” to raise awareness of breast cancer. Hogan’s Alley was swathed Saturday in pink — from the clothing worn by most golfers, officials and spectators to signs and ribbons.

The first “Pink Out” was during the third round last year when Mickelson wasn’t here to defend his 2008 title soon after finding out his wife, Amy, had breast cancer. Soon after that, he found out his mother also had the disease.

Mickelson said he would be wearing pink at home Saturday in San Diego while spending the weekend his family. Amy Mickelson’s birthday is Monday.

K.J. Choi teed off at No. 18 with a chance to match the course record of 61 with a birdie. He instead had a quadruple-bogey 8.

Choi hit his tee shot into the left rough, flubbed his first chance to get out of it and then hit the next into the water. The 40-year-old South Korean knocked his drop through the green, then chipped another one off the green before finally making an 8-foot putt.

“Everything went all right before that hole,” Choi said through an interpreter. “I knew that was a tough hole. In my mind, I thought bogey would be good. But things didn’t go right.”

Choi was at 14 under and still tied with Molder for the lead after his errant tee shot on the closing hole.

At about the same time, Molder was sinking a 34-foot putt at the par-3 No. 8, his second consecutive birdie getting him to 15 under. That stretch also made up for a double bogey at the 481-yard No. 5, when he hit his approach to the par 4 out of bounds.

The only player over par through three rounds is Ian Poulter, the No. 6 player in the world. A 73 on Saturday put him at 1 over.